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Dunlop Super2 Series graduate Zane Goddard had a whirlwind first week of Supercars action, ending it in the medical centre.
The 20-year-old made his championship debut at the Superloop Adelaide 500 for Matt Stone Racing where he clocked up four successive days of on-track action.
It was one of the biggest weeks in his career to date, which also included the official pre-season test at The Bend Motorsport Park last Tuesday.
His weekend schedule included three practice sessions, two qualifying sessions, and two 250 km races at 78 laps apiece – a stark contrast from the three 19-lap races in the feeder series.
Goddard prides himself on his nutrition and physical fitness, but the high intensity weekend was full of new challenges he’d not faced before.
“One of the biggest dramas was all the excitement, running back and forth from the grid, trying to find out if I’ve got enough time for a pee,” Goddard told Speedcafe.com.
“You exhaust yourself, you’re in the car, you’re tense. I’m not saying it wasn’t hard out there, it was bloody hard, but that on top of it made it difficult.
“In the future I need to take a chill pill and just cruise.”
It wasn’t until an hour after the completion of the final race that Goddard began to feel unwell, the point at which he believes the adrenaline began to wear off.
As a result, he began to vomit and was taken to the medical centre for a precautionary check over.
“It was a bit of a shock to the system,” he said.
“On Saturday I jumped straight out of the car and into the ice bath. My body had no idea what was going on.
“When I hopped out on Sunday I didn’t feel too bad, but about an hour later after it hit me like a tonne of bricks.
“It’s been a long week. We had testing on Tuesday, so it all adds up. You can’t discount that. It’s not just a normal race weekend where you rock up on Thursday.
“I just need to work on not burning so many matches early in the week and saving it a little bit for the end.”
A relic of his time racing single-seaters in Europe, Goddard has tailored his physical composition to be as light as possible.
However, he said the nature of Supercars means he’ll probably need to get stronger and ‘bulk up’ to ensure he doesn’t suffer the same effects in future.
“I’m the lightest in the field by about four kilograms when we did the weigh in. My body fat is really low. As soon as I get in the car I get bad heat soak because there’s not much of me.
“I just need to put on a bit of a dad bod,” he joked. “Get some water retention going on.”
Nevertheless, Goddard said he’s learned a lot in just his first two races in the championship.
With finishes 18th and 16th, the Gold Coast-based driver was pleased to finish the weekend relatively unscathed.
“If you had told me I finished 16th for the weekend I’d be pretty happy with that,” he said.
“There were some good drivers behind us. I had a good couple of race and didn’t make any stupid mistakes. Our speed has been pretty good.
“It was a good experience. I think after this weekend I’m definitely a better driver than when I started. Next time I jump in at Tasmania it’ll be a different story.”
Goddard will sub out for Jake Kostecki at the Beaurepaires Melbourne 400. However, he’ll still be in action with an S5000 drive.
